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Dancing Is A Language And Physical And Mental Skills

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Dancing is a language, one anyone can read; however, the skill lies not in the ability to read, but in the passion to write. When people hear the word dance, more specifically ballet, they associate it with a stereotypical image of young girls prancing around in tutus, however, ballet goes beyond the scope society has set for it. Most individuals don’t fully comprehend that ballet is a literacy practice with various skill sets. In Barton and Hamilton’s “Literary Practice” they define a literacy practice as “what people do with the literacy”(3). To be a ballerina you have to be well versed in an assortment of instruction; from body, to technique, to language, to musicality, etc., ballet is a literacy practice that recognizes the extensive …show more content…

The body itself is the main ‘artifact’ or “text” that needs to be understood. The ballet is not just a manner of linguistics, but the most 'classical ' branch of the language of dance, equivalent to the written and spoken language of poetry. The beauty of ballet is that it can capture an audience and tell a story simply through the movement of the body. John McConnell describes dance in his book, Ballet as Body Language, as “a series of connected, meaningful movements which externalize inner feelings”(1). They are storytellers who tell their stories through their body. Its refinement, grace and fortitude can be used to propel powerful messages in captivating ways that both the dancer and audience can relate to and understand. However, to be a ballerina and tell a story, you must have the ideal body to do so. A ballet physique is by no means perfect and indisputably not natural, but fostered for a specific practice that supports an undeniable regarded structure. Technically, balletic movement aims for weightlessness in the lifting of individuals or limbs, in jumps or leaps, and in creating clean lines. These specific necessities require an understanding for the body. In order to understand ones body, a ballerina must be educated, to a degree, in kinesiology (the scientific study of human movement). Although not all studios

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